Mirror Image
by The-Eighth-Sin
Summary: AU. The Sealing had some pretty unforeseen affects on Naruto. Now he has to learn how to cope with his new bloodline. Pairing undecided. M for safety.


Namikaze Minato lay lifeless on the ground, surrounded by unprecedented destruction. He had managed to seal the legendary Nine-tailed Fox into his son, Naruto. His arms, still warm, was wrapped around said child, protecting him even as Sarutobi approached to retrieve the body, or bodies if anything had gone wrong. He couldn't hear crying, the baby should be wailing by now, but there was only silence.

Sarutobi motioned for one of his ANBU guards to fetch the body while looked on with an almost expressionless face. The dog-masked ANBU hesitated for a moment when, he too, heard nothing. Lifting the fallen Hokage he returned to Sarutobi's side. They both breathed a massive sigh of relief when the saw movement from within the bundle in Minato's arms. Carefully removing the child from his father's grasp Sarutobi peered into the blanket covering the babe.

He drew a quick gasp and drew back at what he saw. The child was wide awake, very aware and was looking straight at him! He waited for it to start crying, but it never came, the baby just continued to observe him with unblinking interest. He looked to the Inu ANBU.

"Kakashi-kun, is this normal?" Kakashi just slowly tilted his head to the side, still quite distraught over the loss of his sensei, but he obliged the aged kage.

"Uh…how should I know? You're the one who has a grown son."The ANBU replied. Sarutobi just nodded his head.

"R-right, right. You're absolutely right." He said looking back into the child's eyes. He slumped a bit, "This is most definitely _not_ normal." Breathing a heavy sigh, the two shinobi looked at each other before proceeding back to the village. This was going to be a long day.

**Several Days Later**

Sarutobi sighed for the umpteenth time as he signed another form. His big reveal of Naruto caused quite a stir. How he wished he could take it back. But aside from _that_ particular problem he had one other. Naruto had never once cried out or made so much as a single sound. The baby ate and slept and pooped just fine, just like a normal baby should, shinobi lineage or not; but his constant silence and keen gaze were very disconcerting for everyone who dealt with him. The old Hokage looked into the crib next to his desk at the child who was once again watching his every move.

'_Perhaps he's already training to be a ninja.'_ Sarutobi chuckled at his own joke, and went back to stamping forms, the kage's eternal rival. He stretched his tired arms out in front of himself to relieve some stress when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

Naruto was stretching his arms as well. The child was staring intently at Sarutobi and as he pulled his arms back the baby did so as well. Sarutobi spent the better part of a hour simply moving into different positions while Naruto attempted to copy him to the best of his abilities.

"Not normal at all." Was all he could say as he watched the child that was watching him. For several weeks after that Naruto would copy the actions of anyone and anything that caught his attention. Eventually it began to worry Sarutobi; a child this young shouldn't have those kinds of motor skills. That's when it struck him. Naruto's family kekki genkai, The Kagamikon, Mirror Soul. But that doesn't make any sense.

A bloodline limit manifesting at this age was completely unheard of and should be physically impossible to emerge like this. The genetic mutation to the child's chakra and body wouldn't truly take effect until at least pubescence. That, mixed with the fact that this particular bloodline was ludicrously rare even within the Uzumaki clan, made him wonder even more. What was the cause? Looking at the child's belly gave Sarutobi a hunch.

Perhaps the stress on the child's body and chakra system caused by the sealing of such a great beast caused it to develop immediately. Most, people would think this a blessing, but in reality it's a truly destructive blow to the boy's own development. Without the experience of training in the ninja arts, the child may never learn to truly control when the limit activates, let alone the abilities it entailed.

Sighing once more Hiruzen sat down heavily. Looking at the baby that had plopped down on to its own bottom, he smiled, somewhat forlornly. A thought struck him, maybe there was hope yet. Leaning towards the child he picked Naruto up.

"Don't worry little one, you're not through yet."

**Seven Years Later**

Quickly, and skillfully, traversing the halls of the Hokage tower with practiced ease the elite shinobi stopped outside of the aforementioned Hokage's office. Pausing a moment to adjust his appearance he waited for the secretary to buzz him in. At her nod and smile he opened the door with a smile of his own. Once again he came to a stop this time in front of the Hokage himself.

"Hokage-sama! It is my honor to be summoned here today. What is it that you would ask of me, Sandaime-sama?" the shinobi exuberantly exclaimed. Groaning, the Hokage put his head on his palm.

"Really, Ebisu? I understand I'm the Hokage, but you've been in this office every Friday, of every week for the past seven years. At this point it's really just starting to get annoying." Sarutobi Hiruzen drawled.

"Yes, quite." Ebisu replied in kind. "But a shinobi must always know his place. Something the student you gave me has yet to grasp. I swear that boy will never be normal." Ebisu griped as he crossed his arms.

"Ah yes, how is he doing?" The Hokage asked off handedly while he sifted through papers.

"Annoying. But he's come quite a ways. He has successfully begun establishing who he is, both as a budding shinobi and as a man." The elite jonin answered as he adjusted his sunglasses, smiling somewhat as he thought about his students improvements.

"Good, then you will agree that it's a good idea to transfer him into Iruka's class? The one that he got last year?" The Hokage asked, but it wasn't really a question.

"Oh yes, of course! Brilliant idea Hokag-wait, what?" Ebisu had frozen mid brown nosing as just exactly what the Hokage had said hit him.

"I believe he's ready to make some friends and truly establish himself as a member of the leaf." Sarutobi said as he interlocked his fingers on his desk. "Do you disagree?" The Hokage once again "asked" while he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I don't!" At that Sarutobi Hiruzen was thrown for a loop. Ebisu, talking back? That was a first. "H-he, there's no way that he's ready." Ebisu protested as he adjusted his spectacles as they had almost flown off his face.

"You said it yourself that he was establishing himself, this is the best time to integrate him into the learning system." Sarutobi said with a condescending smile on his face. Ebisu just stared, slack jawed. The Third decided to continue his prodding, "unless, of course, you have a good reason for not wanting to part ways with him?"

Ebisu's mouth moved for a moment but no sound came out. He shut his mouth and shook his head, organizing his thoughts. "Hmph, I've practically raised him. He's _my_ student. My responsibility." Ebisu finished, crossing his arms.

"I'm so happy to hear that you've become so attached to him, Ebisu-kun. Having people who care about you and whom you care for in turn is an important aspect of being a proud leaf-nin." The Hokage said proudly as he stood from his desk and walked to the jonin's side.

"But, but, he's…he's my baby!" Ebisu sobbed as he fell to his knees and grasped Sarutobi's robes.

"Now, now Ebisu-kun. You have to let him go eventually. In a few years I'll allow you to teach Konohamaru, my grandson. How's that sound?" Sarutobi asked as he helped the sobbing ninja to his feat, handing him a hanky in the process. Ebisu took the rag gratefully as he began pulling himself together.

"Thu-thu-thu-that d-doesn't sound s-so bad. But, will I be able to-" he blew his nose, rather violently into the handkerchief, and handed it back to Sarutobi, "thank you," The Hokage took the offending cloth with a strained smile. "Will I still be able to see Naruto-kun?" Ebisu asked, like a child wanting to know if he was in trouble.

"Of course you can! You're just relinquishing your position of sensei, not that of a friend, Ebisu-kun." Sarutobi said as he lead the sniffling man out of his office.

"Sniff, you're right Hokage-sama. Thank you." Ebisu stood up and assumed his normal air of superiority. "I look forward to the privilege of teaching your honorable grandson." He exclaimed as he bowed. The Hokage closed the door to his office with a smile and a wave and Ebisu turned to leave.

Once the click of the door locking into place was heard the Elite Jonin crumpled into a pile on the floor. Crying like a mother whose child was kidnapped in broad daylight. The secretary was somewhat distraught at the sight. Pressing a button on the intercom she spoke, "Um, Hokage-Sama? There's a man on the-"

"Yes, I know. Sigh, have security show him out, perhaps bring him to a bar?" The voice of Sarutobi Hiruzen suggested exasperatedly from the intercom. Nodding she pressed a button on the underside of her desk and pointed to the sobbing fetal position that was once Ebisu as two ANBU appeared. Slumping somewhat, the two masked ninja picked the somewhat human-like pile of sorrow.

"C'mon buddy, let's go get you nice and sloshed. Would you like that? Huh, you wanna go get some booze?" The hawk masked one asked as he took one of Ebisu's arms and put it over his shoulder. Ebisu could only nod and make whimpering noise as he wiped at his ceaseless tears.

"Okay let's go get some booze."

**The Next Day**

Ebisu stopped in front of the door to the classroom that housed the scoundrel that would steal away his son, I mean, student. Knocking once he heard a voice on the other side.

"Okay kids, the new student is here so I want you to be on your best behavior." This was met with a chorus of 'Yes, sir.' Ebisu smiled somewhat, at least the class seemed well mannered.

"KIBA! Take that _out_ of your mouth _this instant_! NO, I _don't_ think the new student would appreciate a "welcoming hazing," Shin! KIBA! WHAT DID I _JUST_ TELL YOU!?" Iruka shouted as he made his way to the entrance of the classroom. Opening it with a smile he greeted the people at his door.

"Welcome! You must be…um, what are you doing?" Iruka trailed off as the man at his door slowly turned his head to face him. The man's expression was almost unreadable with the sunglasses in the way. The man, Ebisu if he remembered correctly, was facing the exit and he had what looked like a small child, with a bored expression, under his arm. He was frozen in mid step and it looked like he was trying to leave. Chuckling nervously Iruka began again.

"Y-you must be Ebisu-sensei. And that makes him," he pointed to the boy, "Naruto-kun. My new student, correct?" Iruka asked with confidence.

Ebisu put Naruto down on the ground and proceeded to clear his throat. "Ahem, correct. Nice to meet you Iruka-san." Ebisu said as he extended his hand for a handshake. After shaking hands with the teacher he turned to his soon-to-be-ex-student. "Introduce yourself to your, gak!" he seemed to be choking on his own words.

"Ahem! Excuse me. Introduce yourself to your… new …teacher." Ebisu barely managed to grind the words out. Iruka finally took a good look at his new addition. The boy turned to observe his new teacher. The boy, Naruto, was wearing a white sweatshirt, with a turtleneck that was pulled up to cover his mouth and nose. The sleeves were too long and completely covered his hands, with plenty of slack left, and it came down to the middle of his thighs. From there he was wearing white shorts that ended mid-shin. The boy was also wearing a white beanie, with white wolf ears sewn onto top that fit snugly on his head. What could be seen of his face was just his right eye, the previous boredom replaced with a curious stare which was fixed intently on Iruka; his left eye, as well as most of the left side of his face, was covered by the large shot of blonde hair that was jutting out from under the hat.

"It's nice to meet you Naruto-kun! I'm Iruka-sensei. How are you?" Iruka asked as he extended his hand to the boy. Naruto looked at the appendage and then looked up to Ebisu, who merely nodded his head with a forced smile. Naruto took the hand, shook it once and let go. Iruka chuckled. "Hehe, he's shy, that's cute. But what's with the hat?" He asked as he stood up to face Ebisu.

"Erm, right, well, the Hokage's wife made that cap for young Naruto. She thinks it makes him look very cute." Ebisu answered nervously. While it was true that she _had_ made the hat, he had helped with the design. Iruka looked down at Naruto and smiled.

"Oh, very nice! Now, Naruto if you want to go in the room, I'll introduce you to the class." Iruka said as he stood near the open doorway. Naruto looked from his new teacher to his old one once more, the curious look never leaving his eye. Ebisu knelt down and put a hand on each of Naruto's shoulders.

"Okay, Naruto. From this day forth I am no longer your sensei! But fear not, for I shall always be your friend! Now go, you're a big boy now." Ebisu said as he embraced his charge. He leaned back to look into the boy's visible eye with a sad smile. Naruto simply looked back at him and then turned and walked to the door. Ebisu let out a choked sob as he fell to his hands and knees, waterfalls of tears cascading down his face.

'_Not even a single tear!_' Iruka and Naruto looked on with expressions of pity and indifference respectively. Iruka laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head and looked down at Naruto.

"Hehehe, well okay then, go on Naruto no need to be shy I'll lead the w-" Iruka was cut off mid sentence because he noticed he wasn't speaking to anybody. Looking into the quiet room, which is weird in and of itself, he noticed Naruto standing in front of the whole class and was just staring at them. He quickly walked over to the new student's side and smiled at the class.

"Well class, this is our newest addition. Go ahead, tell them your name so that we can all get to know each other." Iruka said, smiling down at the taciturn boy. Said boy simply looked up at him before looking back at the class. "Errr, go on. Just say your name and we can get moving. There's no need to be shy." Iruka said with a nervous smile in place, this kid is just not normal. Once again Naruto regarded him with a curious look and then returned to observing his future classmates. The boy was opening his mouth, an action indicated by the shifting of the fabric over the orifice, with a look of concentration on what was visible of his face. However, no sound except for that of air passing through his throat was heard. Iruka was getting a little ticked and sort of weirded out, until he heard a whisper.

"_Psst,_" it was Ebisu, who was halfway in the room on his stomach, "_if you want him to say something you have to say it first!_"Ebisu whispered with a serious expression, despite his ridiculous position. Iruka sweatdropped at the man's action, was he seriously an elite jonin? Whatever, he _had _taught the kid for seven years, if anyone new Naruto it was Ebisu.

"Would you please say your name, Uzumaki Naruto?" Iruka asked the boy. Naruto then quickly shifted and opened his mouth again.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Iruka looked shocked as he quickly looked down at the boy. Naruto was standing in the exact same position that he had been when he asked him to say his name and the boy's voice was…

"Wow, sensei! I di'nt even see your mouth move! But you shoulda used a diffent voice. We all knew it was you." A child exclaimed from the middle row.

"I-I didn't say it that time. Naruto-kun did." Iruka said looking at the boy. Naruto had copied his every movement down to the letter; he even matched the inflection in Iruka's voice!

"But it sounded like you sensei." Said a girl in the back.

"Like you sensei." This time it was clear that the voice had come from the small boy at the front of the room. Naruto was once again in a different pose, matching the girl perfectly, regardless of his lack of a seat.

"WOW!"

"That's awesome! He sounded just like her!"

"Do me next!"

"No way do my voice, hers is so annoying!"

The clamor was deafening. Naruto simply bowed and then looked up at Iruka once more. Iruka pointed at an empty seat next to a cute blonde girl. Naruto nodded and silently made his way there, getting pats on the back and waves as he went. Iruka then slowly turned to Ebisu, who was giving him a thumbs up from his position on the floor. Iruka hurried out into the hallway.

"What was that!?" Iruka shout-asked. Ebisu chuckled condescendingly as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Listen well, my student, class is in session. And the subject is Naruto-kun." Ebisu said in a knowing tone. Iruka slumped, was he for real? "You see Iruka-kun, Naruto , as you know, is the vessel for you-know-what. And just that, the vessel, nothing more." Iruka nodded, it was fairly common knowledge, he didn't really have anything against the kid. He had faith in the fourth's actions. Ebisu seemed to sense this and continued with his impromptu lesson.

"Well the sealing process happened to awaken Naruto's kekki genkai prematurely. As a result he wasn't been able to control the Kagamikon at all and thus it has been affecting him since birth. Asking him to turn it off or, changing the way it worked, would be like asking someone to stop their blood from transferring oxygen to their body while they were breathing." Iruka nodded fervently as Ebisu stopped. Said jonin looked at the scarred chunin out of the corner of his eye. "Are you taking notes? This is important stuff." Iruka immediately produced a small notebook and a pencil, a determined and fiery look in his eye.

"Where was I, oh yes, as a result of the bloodline, as the name suggest, he has the soul of a mirror. He has trouble understanding emotions and feelings and does not know how to use his own voice. He has all of these things, emotions, feelings and a voice, but he is barely in touch with them." Ebisu paused to catch his breath and to clean off his glasses. Iruka was scribbling away.

"It is our hope that he will find these things within himself here, in this social classroom. It's been said that this is the most…rambunctious, of the classes. I have been training him in the use of his bloodline as well as the ninja arts and social interactions." The Elite Jonin explained as he replaced his spectacles on his face. Iruka was nodding with a thoughtful expression. He put away his paper and pencil. Then he burst into tears as he grabbed the elder man in a hug.

"THAT'S SO SAD!" He sobbed. Ebisu returned the hog full force.

"I KNOW!" The two men stood there, locked in a man hug, for another twenty seconds. Drying their tears they adopted determined looks.

"Right, now, currently he can only mimic the physical actions of people around him but, it's not just obvious things like posture or movement patterns as you have seen. This is because it is not normal mimicry it's the bloodline in effect but it has been ingrained in his system to use it. He has made some progress but like I said before, it's like changing your own body's functions. But, it is said that many more powerful techniques await him if he can learn to harness the power thrust upon him. But, until then, he is still just an academy student." Ebisu finished his "lesson" and he looked upon the younger ninja awaiting a response.

"I promise to take excellent care of him! I'm sure all of us in class 2-B will be able to help him open up!" Iruka exclaimed as he saluted Ebisu. Ebisu return the salute.

"That's the spirit! Good luck Iruka-sensei! Good luck 2-B! Please take care of my baby!" Ebisu cried with a proud smile.

"Yeah-whoah, wait. What was that about a baby?" Iruka stopped saluting and took on a skeptical expression. He was quickly pushed back into the classroom.

"Oh! Look at the time I really must be going! But, if anything happens to him…" a dark and foreboding aura began to waft off of the elite jonin as he said that sentence. Iruka gulped as the strange man leaned close to his ear. The ensuing whisper was more deafening than his classroom could ever wish to be.

"_I'll __**kill**__ you._" With that Ebisu turned and left. Iruka breathed a sigh of relief but it was cut short as the sun glasses wearing jonin ran back up to him. Iruka flinched away as Ebisu's hand shot out toward his face. When the cold embrace of death still wasn't upon him Iruka opened his eyes, to find a bento wrapped in a pink handkerchief.

"Silly me! I forgot to give Naruto-kun his lunch. Could you give it to him, if I saw him take it I think I might cry again." A blushing Ebisu said sweetly, almost…motherly. With a shudder Iruka accepted the package and watched Ebisu turn the corner. As he opened the door to his classroom he heard an inhuman wail come from around the same corner.

Iruka then ran into the room and forced a desk up against the, now locked, door. Sighing heavily in relief he looked up to find Naruto seated quietly next to the chatting Ino. If there was a good seat for him to learn how to talk, that was it. Leaning up against his barricade he allowed himself to relax.

"Sensei? What are you doing?" asked a boy in the front row. Iruka looked at the boy seriously and answered him with a very grave tone to his voice.

"I am protecting our lives. No one is to open this door. Understood!?" All the children nodded, even Naruto. Oh right, Naruto.

"Naruto can you come up and get the lunch that Ebisu-san left for you?" Iruka asked kindly. The boy silently made his way up to the front and accepted the parcel. Opening it, he took out the naruto fish cake and the dumpling, ate them and then threw the rest away; all without batting an eye. Iruka looked into the trash with pity on his face.

'_Ruthless_'

Outside Ebisu suddenly fell to the ground in mind numbing pain. It felt like his chest was on fire. He screamed in agony for awhile before he managed to sit up and smile. "Surely this is the pain of a proud parent!" he exclaimed as happy tears, along with some pain tears, fell from his eyes while he raised a shaky fist.

Iruka and the students near the window saw the debacle and slowly turned to look at Naruto. The looks were varying from pity, to understanding, to a little fear. Naruto simply looked back and tilted his head.

'_They aren't normal._'

A/N:Prologue Done. Please read and Review. I need them to let me know that this is the right choice. (even if it isn't)

Okay, so, like, I've not updated any of my stories in forever…derp. So, that's sort of gay of me. I know it is. But I can't work up the will to write for those stories. Which is why it is my sorrow to announce that _**all my stories aside from this one will be on hiatus**_. Until I get my juu-juu back, at least. Until then I'll be working on this story solely. It's been under my hat for awhile now and I think its time to let this rabbit out. I think that it will help me get my groove back.

Also, suggestions for a pairing would be appreciated. Sorry yaoi fans, only het pairings for Naruto please. Go nuts with side pairings, I might not do them but feel free to suggest something, and please give a reason. Also, while I will accept Sakura or Hinata as possible matches this will be heavily weighted and the more votes for them the more likely I am NOT to use them. Sorry.

**Kagamikon** = mirror soul, or mirror spirit. Whichever one floats your fancy.


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